It seemed like a good idea...

I don't know what it is about me, but every time I have a baby, I suddenly decide the older sibling needs to be potty trained. I have spent more time nursing while sitting just outside the bathroom door singing songs and reading books than I care to admit. Anyway, here I go again. Today is day one of Miles' potty training. It's going so terribly that I almost didn't post this so no one would ask me how it was going if I decide to give up. We have had 11 accidents and 1 success. That was after the first 5 hours. I was thankful for nap time so I could put him on a diaper without guilt and spend some time in the rest of the house that didn't involve cleaning puddles. I go cold turkey straight to undies (I believe pull-ups are the enemy of potty training until they have a good handle on the concept, but I do use them or diapers during naps and at night until they consistently wake-up dry) so I know to expect a lot of accidents at first, I just don't remember having to take Caid or Henry to the bathroom every 5 minutes and still have this many accidents. I have tried telling myself to give it one week before giving up, but he's younger than the other 2 were when I trained them, and if I wait I can do it in the summer when Sam's home, Charlie is a little less attached, and Miles will be spending more time outside, cutting down consistently on clean-up. Can you appreciate the temptation? Plus I thought I picked a week when I had nothing going on, but I was grossly mistaken and that adds an extra wrench in things. Anyway, I am mostly just venting. I don't really intend to give up yet, but I will have to rely on pull-ups more than I hoped. I will enjoy the next hour, then back to the grindstone and give it at least 2 more days before I let myself really get discouraged. Wish me luck!

Catching up - part 1: Halloween

Unfortunately I have no funny stories or clever words to share, but because I love looking at pictures of my kids, I am posting about the last few months at our house to try and catch up. First, Halloween: Our pumpkin carving was done in waves. Sam's brother and his family host a big group pumpkin carving party every year at their church. We decided to go this year and carved 2 of our pumpkins then.

Henry was the only one really interested in carving the pumpkins, well besides me, but Charlie was only a couple of weeks old at that point so I ended up with him 90% of the time. Sam was less than excited about being left to take over, so he let Henry go at it all on his own. Luckily they now have kid-safe carving tools that are surprisingly effective.

The preschool I am doing with Henry went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and I invited my sister and her kids to come along.

I was hoping to get a great "pumpkin patch" shot of the 3 boys (Henry, Miles and Charlie) and I together, but the boys didn't share my enthusiasm. This was the best I could get. Henry wouldn't get in the shot at all and this is the closest Miles would get to me. Oh well...

Along with some other fun things, the boys each got to pick out their own pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch to take home. So that night commenced round two of our pumpkin carving. Miles and Henry were both excited to carve their own pumpkins.

Halloween day itself was fun. After we finished our Saturday chores (Saturday is a special day, right?), we took the boys over to our parents to show off their costumes. My mom and dad had a fun "fishing game" set up for the boys to play to get their treats from them. They had a lot of fun with it. Luckily I thought to take a picture of the boys with my parents while we were there because the rest of the day I spaced it and that was my only shot of them in their costumes all day. I kept meaning to put them all in their costumes again and do a re-take later, but Charlie has now grown out of his and with it being January now and I still haven't done it I guess it's time to move on... Here's the boys and my parents, and then a close-up of Charlie in his. Kincaid was the red power ranger, Henry was Buzz Lightyear, Miles was a firefighter, and Charlie was a pirate.

Happy Halloween!

What?!

After finding myself saying some interesting things in response to (my) life's interesting situations, I decided to make a list of things I've said that I never thought I would (have to) hear myself say:

1. We do not paint on the door with yogurt.

2. We do not pull our pants down in front of other people. That is not a game.

3. Please don't pee on your outside toys.

4. "Get off me you bodaggit" is not really a very nice thing to say to the Bishop. (That's a line from the movie Napoleon Dynamite, in case you're not as obsessed with it as much as certain members of our family.)

5. How did you manage to drop: Thomas, my watch, your sword, Lightning McQueen... in the toilet?

6. I'm pretty sure the neighbors do not want you decorating their tree with your underwear. What? Oh, well trying to get your underwear caught up in the neighbor's tree is not a game.

7. You threw your underwear over the neighbors fence? (see #6)

8. The toilet brush is not a sword, we do not play with it.

9. Me: Don't fill up on fruit, we're having dinner soon. Kincaid: What's for dinner? Me: pancakes.

10. I am not a napkin, please don't wipe your face/hands on me.

11. I am not a tissue, please don't wipe your nose on me.

12. You have cheese in your eyebrow.
13. Why are you cuddling with your brother's dirty diaper? (at least it was only a wet one)
14. Who put the whoopie cushions under our pillows?

15. Putting a clean pair of undies over the dirty ones is not changing your underwear, you have to take the dirty ones off first. The same goes for socks.

There are so many more, but I keep forgetting to write them down and then I can't remember them. Oh well... life with kids is crazy, huh?

I plan on adding some more pics and updates soon, but I am still figuring out our new computer. Happy New Year!

He's Here!

Announcing Charles Ezra Adams! Charlie (now 3 weeks old) was 9 lbs 10 oz and 21 & 1/4 inches long. Everything went great and everyone is doing well. When he was first born he looked almost identical to Kincaid and Miles, but he is looking a lot more like Henry now, though he seems to have blond hair and blue eyes. We're thinking maybe he'll be the missing link that connects Henry with the other 2 (at least in appearances). Kincaid still enjoys being the oldest and is usually a very good helper and often a just-as-good tormentor to the younger guys - luckily Kincaid has some mercy and Charlie has, for the most part, been spared. Henry is the most smitten with Charlie and often coos and fusses over him. He gives Charlie quite a bit of love and affection. Miles gets a little jealous at times, especially since I can't hold him as much and he sees me holding Charlie all the time; but usually he is very good about it. He knows that with Charlie here now he's not the "little guy" anymore and that he is now one of the "big guys" and he loves that. Overall he is doing really well adjusting; everyone is.
Sam took a week and a half off from work and my mom took a week off from work to help me, but now everyone is back at work and I am going on day 3 on my own with them all. So far so good, but I forgot how much time you spending sitting around feeding and holding new babies. I guess I'm not supposed to do too much by way of housecleaning and such just yet, but sometimes I just sit there and stare at all that needs to get done and that's about all I can do about it in that moment. I remind myself "to every thing there is a time and a season" (or something like that) and that Charlie won't be little forever so I'm trying to enjoy it all and not worry too much. Here are some pictures of Charlie in his first few weeks:

The boys were all getting over colds when Charlie was born so they wore masks into the hospital to see him. They thought they were dressing up, they loved it. They discovered it's a little hard to drink root beer or eat Rice Krispy treats through them, though they tried.


I love this picture of all 5 "boys" together the day Charlie was born. They seemed more excited about the Rice Krispy treats and root beer than Charlie, but Charlie didn't seem to mind (although my mom might have when she took them home and the sugar hit their systems).

Here is Charlie and mom.

Here is Charlie at 6 days old. This was the sticker from our new vacuum. They weigh almost the same amount, but Sam thought Charlie deserved it more.

Here is Charlie at 2 weeks old in Henry's favorite outfit (see the dinosaurs? The slippers are pretty cool, too.)


Here is a picture I took of Charlie today at 3 weeks. He is one handsome little devil (well, he's still an angel right now).

4 days and counting...

So there are only 4 days left until I have this baby and I have a list of things I have/want to do first. The problem is I got Sam's nasty cold and all I want to do is sit or lay down and do nothing, which is probably what I should be doing so I don't go into the whole surgery recovery with a new infant and no sleep thing with a cold on top of that. Some of the things don't really matter (we can set up the crib when we get home, right?), but some of them are important to me and can't wait (like I'd like to be able to use my camera and video camera at the hospital, and we probably should at least get the infant car seat out of the attic before we leave for the hospital). I guess I will just take it one item at a time and see what happens. But, for all you first time moms out there: I finally discovered all you really need to have done before the baby comes is a car seat and something to bring the baby home in. I guess the whole scheduled c-section thing is a blessing and a curse. You know when you're having the baby so you can plan, but you also know when you're having the baby so you can procrastinate. Oh well, it'll all be fine, I am just excited to get him here and see what he looks like and finally pick out a name.

30 Things I Love...

In celebration of my 30th birthday (I LOVE my birthday!) I am making a list of 30 things I love. Things you may or may not know about me and probably don't ever care to, but here they are anyway: (they are in no particular order)

1. My birthday

2. A really good dancing/driving song

3. The first sounds and smells of lawnmowers after a long, wet, rainy winter

4. Food

5. Baked goods

6. Anything with chocolate

7. My husband

8. The little seats in public restrooms where you can strap in a younger child while you help the older child take care of business

9. The smell of barbecues on a sunny day

10. Being a mom of all boys

11. The feeling of the sun on my skin

12. A bowl of cereal and milk just before bed

13. Singing (mostly when I know people aren't listening)

14. Kincaid

15. Henry

16. Miles

17. Having an empty laundry basket and no clothes to fold

18. Looking at my toes when they are tan and newly polished

19. Hot cocoa with hazelnut or almond roca flavoring and lots of whipped cream

20. Shopping (without children and with money to spend preferably)

21. Sweater cardigans

22. The color green (more specifically lime-avocado-ish green)

23. Getting a new pair of great fitting jeans

24. Playing the piano (and singing along, if no one is listening that is)

25. My in-laws, all (30+) of them

26. When people ask me if this is my first baby and then the look on their face when I tell them it's my 4th

27. Baking pies and muffins in the fall

28. My parents, 4 sisters, and their spouses and children

29. When Sam plays with my hair or puts his hand on my arm or the small of my back

30. Fred Meyer's Playland and the race car shopping carts that make my shopping experience so much easier

Garden update

Since my last update my wise mother-in-law advised me to water my tomatoes like crazy and I should still get some. I did and I now have 8 beautiful tomatoes growing (I even left the ones Miles picked out in garden and they are almost red now. I don't know if they will be fit to eat or not, but in case your child does the same thing, you might still be able to use them). I also have 2 pumpkins (so far), 4 big zucchini, and 2 cucumbers. I am not ready to enter the blue ribbon contest at the fair quite yet, maybe next year, but I am seeing the fruits of my labor and it is oh so satisfying.